We slept until almost 9:00. We had breakfast and then packed up the car and checked out. We had planned to do a 6 hour, difficult hike today but it was too late to do that one and I couldn't have done it. So we did a moderate hike of 6.6 miles to Eight Mile Lake and back. First we drove 8 miles on pavement on Icicle Road then 3 miles on gravel on Forest Road 7601 to the Trail Head. We started our hike about 11:00. The first ½ mile was really steep going up. After that it was less strenuous. The hike took us through a lot of open areas because of recent fires in the area. We went along an old logging road for a while and that was easy. We also went through Wenatchee National Forest and one section was unburnt, old growth timber. It was very quiet and cool in there. There was also a boulder field we had to cross but there was a well worn path so it wasn’t too difficult. We crossed several ridges that we suspect were glacial moraines. At three miles in we came to a small lake and sat down for a few minutes

. It was hot in the sun but cool in the shade. In another ½ mile at about 1:45, we came to Eight Mile Lake. I suspect it is called Eight Mile Lake because it was 8 miles out Icicle Road to the turn off. We walked a little to the left to a boulder field that went right down to the edge of the lake. We found some good boulders for sitting and sat there and had our sandwiches and carrots for lunch. Larry and Erin did a little exploring while I found a quiet, more comfortable, and cool place to sit. We left the lake at about 2:30 and got back shortly before 4:30. That last ½ mile of steep downhill was all my knees could take. Thank goodness for my hiking poles or I wouldn’t be able to hike anymore.

On the way back to Leavenworth we thought an ice cream was in order. Than Erin suggested that we eat at Andreas Keller as she was really hungry. So we ate there again. We were able to get a parking place on Front Street and didn’t have far to walk. Thank God! Going down and back up the stairs was really taxing my calf and thigh muscles. Erin and I had Schnitzel Cordon Bleu again and Larry had a bratwurst with Kraut and German Potato Salad. They had Dunkles to drink and I had a small radler. On the way back to the car Larry and Erin stopped at the Munchen House to buy pint glasses. We drove through town and started back to Sammamish.

The route took us east out of Leavenworth, then south on 97 and over Blewett Pass. 97 became 970 which took us shortly to 90. After coming down from the pass we went through an area of prairie or plains where there were a lot of horses and hay fields. We got over Snoqualmie Pass without a big backup as we returned later than most from the holiday weekend. We got off at the Snoqualmie exit and went to the Snoqualmie Brewery. When we got there we decided to try the new upstairs which had opened since we were there last. But it was closing so they asked us to go back down stairs. My legs were not happy. When we ordered downstairs the waitress down there asked if we had been kicked out from upstairs. When we said we had, she said the drinks were on the house as she didn’t want customers treated that way. For Labor Day they had a special going, $3.00 for a pint. But we got ours free. I just got root beer because I love theirs. There was a band playing and it was also open mike night. So we had a good visit to brewery.